Hoffman, Kurt Leroy
and
Cano-Ramírez, Hugo
2018.
Lost in translation? A critical look at the role that animal models of obsessive compulsive disorder play in current drug discovery strategies.
Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery,
Vol. 13,
Issue. 3,
p.
211.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions (trichotillomania, pathological skin-picking, pathological nail-biting) are common and disabling. Current treatment approaches fail to help a significant proportion of patients. Multiple tiers of evidence link these conditions with underlying dysregulation of particular cortico-subcortical circuitry and monoamine systems, which represent targets for treatment. Animal models designed to capture aspects of these conditions are critical for several reasons. First, they help in furthering our understanding of neuroanatomical and neurochemical underpinnings of the obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum. Second, they help to account for the brain mechanisms by which existing treatments (pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, deep brain stimulation) exert their beneficial effects on patients. Third, they inform the search for novel treatments. This article provides a critique of key animal models for selected OC spectrum disorders, beginning with initial work relating to anxiety, but moving on to recent developments in domains of genetic, pharmacological, cognitive, and ethological models. We find that there is a burgeoning literature in these areas with important ramifications, which are considered, along with salient future lines of research.

113.Hoffman, KL, Rueda Morales, RI. Toward an understanding of the neurobiology of “just right” perceptions: nest building in the female rabbit as a possible model for compulsive behavior and the perception of task completion. Behav Brain Res. 2009; 204: 182–191.

142.Baunez, C, Robbins, TW. Effects of transient inactivation of the subthalamic nucleus by local muscimol and APV infusions on performance on the five-choice serial reaction time task in rats. Psychopharmacology. 1999; 141(1): 57–65.

144.Clarke, HF, Robbins, TW, Roberts, AC. Lesions of the medial striatum in monkeys produce perseverative impairments during reversal learning similar to those produced by lesions of the orbitofrontal cortex. J Neurosci. 2008; 28(43): 10972–10982.